ASLA has elevated 40 members as ASLA Fellows for their exceptional contributions to the landscape architecture profession and society at large. Election to the ASLA Council of Fellows is among the highest honors ASLA bestows on members.
“Landscape architecture makes the world a better place, and ASLA Fellows represent the most accomplished and admired leaders in the entire field,” said ASLA President SuLin Kotowicz, FASLA. “The professionals recognized in this year’s class of ASLA Fellows have made consistent and exceptional contributions to resilience and sustainability, stronger and more beautiful communities, and human health, safety, and welfare. Congratulations to the 2024 class of ASLA Fellows!”
“Naming a new class of distinguished ASLA fellows is a reminder of how much landscape architects do to make our communities more connected, more enjoyable, and more resilient,” said ASLA CEO Torey Carter-Conneen. “We extend our warmest thanks to the new class of ASLA Fellows for their exemplary work and accomplishments.”
Congratulations to the 2024 Northern CA ASLA Fellows Patricia Algara, David Fletcher and Joni L. Janecki.
Patricia Algara, ASLA
BASE Landscape Architecture, San Francisco
Nomination in Leadership/Management by the Northern California Chapter
Patricia Algara has been a force for positive change in landscape architecture practice and recognized nationally and internationally for her leadership and management of a firm dedicated to coalition building and community-driven design. Her mission-driven firm works with earth-based and spiritual practices that incorporate ritual and ceremony into their approach, projects, and studio practice. Patricia’s commitment to training emerging professionals for practice—especially young professionals of color—has been recognized through various awards and honors she has received, the committees she has served, and the accomplishments of her students. She organized the first gathering of Latin American landscape architects during the 2022 ASLA Conference, which has turned into an annual tradition with growing participation. Her deep study and love of bees led her to form With Honey in the Heart, a nonprofit that creates healthy habitats for, and educates people about, pollinators. Patricia has created many demonstration gardens, most notably the “Pollinator Boulevard,” created in 2015 in the Mission District of San Francisco, where working with the city, she transformed an underused median into a thriving pollinator habitat. She is a passionate advocate for quality and equity in the public realm. All of Patricia’s efforts strive to empower People of Color to be part of the design of healthy, accessible, and sustainable landscapes in which nature is the main client.
David Fletcher, ASLA
Fletcher Studio, San Francisco
Nomination in Works by the Northern California Chapter
David Fletcher, founding principal of Fletcher Studio, has been pushing the boundaries of the profession through innovation and imagination, helping communities find meaning in their built landscapes. His multidimensional background in sculpture, public art, and video gaming, along with his studies in field biology and landscape architecture, provides a unique foundation for the design of conceptual and process-based landscape solutions. His contributions to the design field include decades of teaching, academic research, writing, and giving in special ways, such as Fletcher Studio’s “Hope + Space” program which dedicates 4 percent of the year’s income to help communities and neighbors realize a land use dream. David redesigned San Francisco’s oldest park, South Park, to build on its Civil War-era history while solving the site’s infrastructure issues and improving accessibility. Using a single, meandering pathway to link public plazas, informal stages, bioretention gardens, gently sloping meadows, custom amenities, and custom play structures with the surrounding neighborhood, the award-winning design ties together disparate functions and offers a diversity of uses. For the city of Healdsburg, Fletcher Studio developed the master plan for parks, open spaces, and natural resources with an emphasis on alternative transportation analysis, connectivity analysis, river access, and the design of two large parks. Fletcher studio was charged with leading the design of America’s first spreading forest cemetery at Better Place Forests in Point Arena, CA. They worked with a team of forest ecologists, artists, designers, and other consultants to master-plan the property and design structures, spaces, trail systems, wayfinding and signage, the burial marker, and habitat restoration.
Joni L. Janecki, ASLA
Joni L. Janecki & Associates, Santa Cruz, CA
Nomination in Works by the Northern California Chapter
Joni Janecki’s four decades of nationally recognized work demonstrate her commitment to integrating cultural, historical, and ecological strands into meaningful, timeless designs that connect people and nature. Whether in urban mixed-use developments in San Jose, habitat restoration projects in rural Watsonville, or residences in the wildland/urban interface, Joni continues to support a cascade of connected species from microbes to mountain lions. Over the course of her career, her intention has been to develop timeless landscapes that are evocative, ecological, and inspiring, spaces that strengthen connections between people and landscapes. Joni has many long-term relationships with clients and professionals, most notably the University of California, Santa Cruz, for whom she has completed more than 70 projects over the last 30 years. From award-winning projects such as Engineering 2 Building to seismic and infrastructure improvements, she has created settings of quiet beauty on the 2,000-acre campus of complex geology and distinct ecosystems. At the David & Lucile Packard Foundation Headquarters in Los Altos, CA, Joni’s landscape design of the 1.5-acre site celebrates the richness and beauty of the nearby plant communities: riparian, grassland/meadow, and woodland, achieving a 95 percent native landscape. At the iconic Sea Ranch development in California, Joni’s design intent for an award-winning family retreat was to blend the built landscape seamlessly into its habitats and plant communities. Completed in two phases, the project occupies adjacent parcels, the first primarily meadow and the second skirting a rich riparian zone filled with head-high coastal native feather grass.
